


a little drop of fate

by xrebelwithacausex



Series: when the lights go out [1]
Category: Family Ties (TV)
Genre: F/M, Getting Back Together, ellen is really successful and alex is really intimidated, ft. a date with a girl i shouldve named karen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26315512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xrebelwithacausex/pseuds/xrebelwithacausex
Summary: alex p keaton is finally going on a date for the first time since he moved out to new york. things aren't going exactly as smoothly as he would have liked, but he was prepared to get through the night and then put it out of his mind forever. enter: an ex-girlfriend, and soon this horrible first date is going in a completely different direction.
Relationships: Alex Keaton & Mallory Keaton, Alex Keaton & Nick Moore, Alex Keaton/Ellen Reed, Ellen Reed & The Keatons, Erwin | Skippy Handleman & The Keatons, Nick Moore & The Keatons, Nick Moore/Mallory Keaton, Steven Keaton/Elyse Keaton
Series: when the lights go out [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1912078
Comments: 13
Kudos: 5





	1. people don't actually like ballet, do they?

Alex rubbed his eyes sleepily as he turned the key into his apartment. He checked the time - 6 pm. He should have been home an hour ago. Now he wouldn’t have time to start the laundry.

He opened up the curtains, letting the dying light filter through the windows and into his house. Six months of living there and he still couldn’t call it home. The counters were too unfamiliar, the appliances too new, everything a little too perfect to be home.

But tonight, perfect is exactly what he was looking for.

He hung up his coat instead of flinging it on a chair, tucking his briefcase into his closet, and quickly changed into a new suit. He searched through dozens of cologne bottles, eventually settling on a new one his father gifted him when he moved out.

As he tied his tie, he allowed himself a moment to ponder on the nights’ possibilities. This was his first date since he moved to New York. He’d never realized how much work actually went into running a household. He made a mental note to call up his mother and thank her, and potentially try to convince her to move in with him to do his chores. He had absolutely no time for a social life anymore. He wasn’t all that sure why he was going on this date, if he was being completely honest. She wasn’t really his type, they only knew each other a little bit from work, and something felt...off about her. Maybe he was just nervous? He sighed, rubbing his forehead. Mallory would know. He smiled a little at the memory of Mallory pestering him before and after every date he went on, trying to squeeze every last detail from him. A small, sarcastic chuckle escaped him at the irony of the situation. For years, Mallory’s incessant questioning had been little more than an annoyance, something to get rid of. Now, he would give just about anything to talk to her again. 

Maybe he could give her a call?

But before he made it to the phone, he checked the time - 6 20 - and cursed. There was no time to call if he wanted to be on time to meet his date. He would just have to wait.

He quickly switched to the shoes he had polished earlier, then did a quick run through of the entire apartment.

Cleaned? Check

Candles? Check

His favourite romantic records? Check

He took a deep, steadying breath, and left the apartment, hoping his efforts in tidying up would not be in vain. It was about time he had a good date again.

~~

As Alex knocked on the door of the small apartment for the third time in ten minutes, he was starting to feel annoyed. She had specifically told him, 6 30. She even added that he shouldn’t be late. And here she was, not answering the door at all. 

After a couple more minutes, Alex promised himself that if she didn’t open the door within thirty seconds, he was leaving. No sooner had he thought that, when she finally came out.

“Hello, Holly,” he said, flashing a smile.

“Hi Alex,” she said, her expression bored. “Are you ready?”

“Mhmm,” he said, offering her his hand. She glanced at his hand and walked forward, leaving him staring after her in confusion.

~~

“Al _ex_ , I don’t like this restaurant,” Holly complained for the fourth time that evening. The first time, Alex was confused but sympathized anyways - the restaurant wasn’t as good as Holly thought it would be. The second, slightly irritated. The third, he was vexed. By the time they’d reached dessert, Alex was praying that a fire would start and they would have to evacuate the building. 

“Holly, didn’t _you_ choose the restaurant?” he asked through gritted teeth. She pushed her blonde bangs out of her eyes.

“Well, you could’ve tried to stop me,”

Alex gaped at her. “So the four other restaurants I suggested weren’t good enough?”

“I didn’t like them,”

“And what about the fifty other activities I suggested before you settled on dinner?”

Holly pursed her lips. “Dinner and _ballet_ ,” she reminded him. Alex rubbed his forehead. As if this date wasn’t going badly enough, he had to go see a ballet.

“Yes, of course. Dinner and ballet. How could I forget?” he said dryly. He checked his watch - 7 30. “Come on, the ballet starts in half an hour, we can grab a snack on the way. Hello, sir,” he waved down the waiter walking past. “We’re ready for our bill,” he explained. The waiter nodded and walked over to the front.

“How long is this ballet?” he asked.

“Well, the performance itself is about two hours, but I got tickets to meet the performers after the ballet, so make that three,”

Beautiful. Three straight hours of something only Ellen could have enjoyed. Alex closed his eyes in a silent prayer for strength. Ellen wouldn’t have forced him to do this. In fact, if Ellen wanted to go, he would have gladly gone with her.

 _Just goes to show_ , he realized. _how differently you react to something depending on the people around you_ ,

He was spared from further comment by the waiter returning with their bill. Alex held out his hand to take it, but before the waiter could give it to him, Holly snatched it.

“Let me see that,” she said. She quickly scanned the paper, face contorted in disgust. “Holy _shit_ ,” she said. “ _This_ is what we’re paying? And for what? Terrible service, inedible food, practically no atmosphere?”

Alex stood between her and the waiter. “I’m so sorry sir, let me handle this. Holly? Holly,” he said, turning back to his date. “Holly. Calm down,” he held his hands up. “You’re not paying. I’m paying. I decide if the bill is unreasonable. Now if you would let me _see_ the bill?” 

She handed it to him, and he read over the final figures. $100. She was causing a ruckus over a hundred bucks. He rubbed his forehead as he turned back to the waiter.

“I’m sorry, sir, please ignore her, where should I pay?”

“No!” Holly yelled before Alex could leave. “This is ridiculous. I want to speak to the manager. I want our meals on the house!”

“Holly,” Alex spun around. “Either you stop talking and let me pay, or I’m going to drop you home right now,” he threatened. 

Holly pursed her lips but said nothing.

“I’m really sorry about all that,” Alex said as he paid. “First dates, you know how it is,” he joked around, hoping that the staff would understand that none of this was his fault.

The waiter said nothing, and Alex and Holly left for the ballet.

~~

The first act had come to a close, the lights turned on, and Alex found himself being rudely shaken awake by a very angry girl.

“How could you sleep through that? It was so moving,” she said, and true to her word, a small tear stain made itself home on her cheek.

Alex stood up and stretched. “I don’t know, Holly. Ballet’s not really my thing,” he said, stifling a yawn. Holly seemed displeased with his answer, but then again, he thought, she was displeased with everything. _Maybe she was just born with a haughty face_ , he thought. For some reason, he found himself trying to hold back a laugh as he did.

“If you don’t enjoy ballet, why didn’t you say so?”

“I did,” Alex nodded. “About four times. You refused to listen, told me it was a “cultural experience” that I didn’t want to miss,” he folded his arms.

“Whatever,” she stood up, pulling her coat around her shoulders. “I’m going to get popcorn,”

“Uh, grab me a soda,”

She raised her eyebrows so high it was a wonder they didn’t disappear into her hair. “If you want a soda, you can get it yourself. In fact, give me your card. The woman never pays for the date,”

Alex smiled thinly. This is where he drew the line. “Oh no, my dear?” he said, a note of danger working its way into his voice. “Every single thing we’re doing today is something you chose to do. I paid for dinner, you paid for the ballet tickets, and I was obviously going to give you money for popcorn,” he said, showing her his wallet. “But, uh, I gotta say,” he said, tilting his head. “You keep that attitude, and you’ll see how much I’ll pay for,”

Holly looked as though she wanted to say something, but one look at the growing line for snacks, accompanied with the announcement that the ballet would begin in ten minutes, and she shook her head and headed over to the line.

Alex heaved a sigh of relief. “I gotta get out of here,” he muttered to himself.

“That bad, huh?” the guy next to him asked.

“You said it,” he said, massaging his temple. “Terrible date, and then the ballet? I mean, just my luck, right?”

The guy smiled sympathetically. “I hear you. But hey, try to stay awake for the next half. It really picks up from here, and you might like it,”

“Like ballet?” he scoffed. 

“I was the same way,” the guy said. “Then I met my girlfriend,” he pointed to a girl at the front of the snack line. “She loves ballet, so I gave it a shot. Truth be told, it’s not half bad,” he shrugged.

Alex gave a half-smile. “I had a girl like that once. She moved away to Paris and broke up with me the same night,” 

The guy’s face fell. “Sorry to hear that, bud. But hey,” he moved in conspiratorially. “If you’re looking, the lead girl isn’t all that bad to look at,”

Alex looked at the guy, then shrugged. “This girl, Holly, she got us a pass to meet the cast after the show. Maybe I’ll try my luck,”

“That’s the spirit!” he said. “Besides, what do you have to lose?”

Alex looked over at the line, where Holly had gotten into an argument with the woman running the soda bar.

“Yeah, not much,” he said. “Oh, by the way, I didn’t get your name?”

“Oh, Ryan Willis,” he said

“Alex Keaton, nice to meet you,” the two of them shook hands. Alex checked the time. In about two hours, he would be home, in his pajamas, eating ice cream on the phone with Mallory. 

_I can’t believe it. I’m missing Mallory,_ he thought, leaning back in his seat. _What’s the world coming to?_

Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to contemplate this discovery, because right then, Holly came back.

“Can you believe it?” she cried. “They threatened to call security on me!”

Alex glanced at Ryan, who was attempting to hide a smile. He forced a shocked look onto his face and turned back to Holly.

“Really? What happened?”

She tossed her head. “Nothing! All because I asked them for kale salad,”

“What?” Alex furrowed his brow. “Why didn’t they give it to you?”

“Because they didn’t have any! I mean, what kind of respectable establishment only has two types of salad?”

“The one you chose,” Alex muttered. He gritted his teeth and stole a glance at Ryan, who wasn’t even trying to stifle his smile anymore. _I’m going to kill someone_ , he mouthed, raking his hands through his hair in a feeble attempt to quell his fury.

“You still shouldn’t have caused a scene,” he said. Holly looked at him as though she wanted to slash his throat open with her nails. Thankfully, before any more damage could be done, the lights dimmed and the orchestra started playing again.

During the first act, Alex hadn’t paid even a moment’s attention to the people on stage. They all sort of blurred and became part of the background, while he closed his eyes and pretended he was in bed. This time, he paid close attention to every person on stage, and when Ryan nudged him to tell him the leading ballerina was about to come on, he felt a short thrill of anticipation, wondering what she might look like.

He was not prepared to see Ellen Reed.


	2. nevermind, maybe ballet is alright

“Holy shit,” he said softly, his heart pounding so hard he was surprised it was still in his body. He gripped the arm of the seat, trying to steady himself. “Holy _shit_ ,”

Ryan nudged him. “What I tell you?”

Alex clenched his fist as he leaned in to whisper into Ryan’s ear. “You remember that girl I told you about, the one who moved to Paris?”

“Yeah?”

Alex nodded at the stage, unable to form the words. Ryan’s eyes gleamed in comprehension. 

“Holy shit,” he echoed. “What are the odds?”

He shook his head. “I can’t believe she’s here,” he murmured. “I have to talk to her,”

“Well lucky for you, you have a backstage pass,” he whispered deviously. 

Alex looked at Ryan, a smile building on his face. Ryan smiled back, and apparently hilarity and joy is contagious, because the two of them had to cover their faces to avoid laughing out loud. 

“Alex!” Holly snapped. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing, Holly,” Alex whispered hastily, raking his hand through his hair. He leaned back, his eyes fixated on Ellen and her graceful movements.

He suddenly found that he had a soft spot for ballet.

~~

As the final curtain dropped, Alex stood up to stretch. He didn’t fall asleep this time, though he still had only a vague idea of what the ballet was actually about. He was more focused on Ellen, and on all the male dancers, wondering which one she was involved with. Just watching them dance together like that made his skin crawl.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” he told Holly. “And then we can go meet the dancers,”

He didn’t wait for her reply as he barrelled past the crowd towards the mens’ room.

Once he was there, he took a deep steadying breath. 

“You are about to meet Ellen Reed,” he told himself. “You haven’t seen her since your junior year of college,” he opened his briefcase and found some emergency cologne, spritzing it on. “She’s a professional ballet dancer now. She’s probably in a relationship. So don’t get your hopes up. You are going to see her. You are going to say hi. You are going to ignore your previous relationship with her. And then you are never going to see her again,” he pulled a breath mint out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth.

He took one final look in the mirror, and shook his head. “Holy shit,”

~~

“Next,” a nasal voice blared.

Alex fiddled with his collar, trying to hide his excitement. 

“What is taking so long?” Holly complained. 

“Well, there are other people in line, you see,”

“I don’t _care_ ,” Holly whined. “They should let us go to the front because they didn’t have my salad,”

Alex gritted his teeth. _Just one more person,_ he reminded himself. _Just one more person in line until we can go in and I can forget about this crazy woman_

“We’re nearly there, Holly,”

“Well we could’ve been there earlier,”

“It _really_ doesn’t matter, okay? As long as we get to see them, who cares how long it takes?” he attempted to reason, though as she glared him down, he realized he probably should have kept his mouth shut.

“Whose side are you on, anyways?” she asked, hand on her hip.

Alex looked at her incredulously. “ _Side?_ There’s no ‘side’ to this! What do you mean, ‘whose side am I on?’”

“Next,” the voice blared again, saving him from her answer, and then they were next in line.

“See? We’re next in line. You get to meet whoever you want in five minutes,”

“ _Five minutes?”_ Holly hissed. “You mean we only get five minutes in there?”

Alex groaned. “Yes, Holly. Five. Minutes,”

“That’s ridiculous,”

“Don’t try anything,” he warned, already recognizing the glint in her eye. “Holly, no. I’m begging you. Do not try to get more time,” he hissed.

Holly just rolled her eyes and ignored him. “Give me my ticket,”

Alex handed her the ticket, gritting his teeth in irritation. _Ellen,_ he reminded himself. _Think of Ellen_

“Next,” the guard eventually blared. Alex showed him his ticket and stepped forward, but Holly didn’t move. 

“Ma’am?” the guard asked.

“I want ten minutes with the dancers,” Alex turned around in disbelief.

“Sorry, ma’am, you have a yellow pass, so you get five minutes. Next time, try a green pass,”

“Well, upgrade my pass,” she demanded. “You didn’t have the salad I wanted, and your server was horribly rude, so I should get a green pass to compensate,”

“Holly,” Alex warned. “Stop making a scene and hurry up,” he tapped his watch. “You’re wasting our time,”

Holly didn’t budge. “If you won’t upgrade my pass, I want to see your manager,” the guard blinked. 

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to return to the back of the line,”

Holly looked as though her eyes were about to pop out of her head.

“ _Go to the back of the line?”_ she screeched. “ _I’ll have you fired_!”

The guard remained calm. “If you refuse, I have no choice but to escort you off the premises,” he looked at Alex, who apologized.

“I’m so sorry about this, sir, is there anything I can do?”

“That’s alright, sir, you can stay. But she has to leave,”

“Alex! Tell him he’s crazy,”

Alex looked straight in her eyes. “Go home, Holly,”

He turned around to where he was being ushered backstage, and let the guard deal with Holly and her screeching. 

He tried to rub some warmth into his hands, but it was cold - unbearably cold. He felt his heartbeat quicken at the thought of meeting her again.

What would he say?

But before he had any time to ponder that, he was through the door.

He had spent most of the past five minutes looking down, but he let himself lift his head and meet the gaze of - 

“ - Ellen,” he breathed.

“Ellen’s face was twisted in shock. “Alex?”

Alex felt his face flush. “That’s me,”

Ellen walked over to him. “What are you doing here?”

He flashed his ticket. “I’m meeting the dancers,”

“Did you know I was performing?”

He shook his head. “Not at first,”

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, taking it all in. Then, another dancer came over to them.

“Uh, Ellen? You mind telling us who this is?”

“Sorry, Dustin,” she said. Alex looked up, recognizing the man who had danced opposite Ellen. “Everyone, this is Alex Keaton,”

“Hello,” they all said.

“Hi,” Alex waved, his eyes never leaving Ellen.

“Do you two know each other?” another dancer asked, looking back and forth between Alex and Ellen.

“You could say that,” Alex said, furtively glancing at Ellen.

“We were in university together before I transferred to Paris. I was his girlfriends’ roommate,” Ellen explained.

_Girlfriends’ roommate_

She hadn’t called herself that since the first three weeks they knew each other. It moved from “girlfriends’ roommate” to “friend” to “good friend” to “girlfriend.”

He had once thought it would move up again.

“Yeah,” he said. “Girlfriends’ roommate,”

Ellen stepped back, turning towards her dance partners.

“This is Dustin, Mark, Matheo, Jean, Sylvie, and Diana,” she said, pointing at each one in turn. 

“Hi,” Alex vaguely tried to place their faces and names in his memory, but he knew that when he thought of tonight, it wouldn’t be of Sylvie and Matheo and Dustin. 

_Stop it_ , he told himself. _You’re done. It’s been two and a half years. You’re over her_

Wasn’t he?

He couldn’t be all too sure, standing right here in front of her for the first time since they broke up. 

“So, Alex,” Dustin said. “How did you get into ballet?”

“What? Oh,” he turned to face Dustin. “Well,” he furtively glanced at Ellen, who gestured ever so slightly to go ahead. “Through Ellen, actually. I mean, I’m not really into it, but-”

“-but I convinced him to take his girlfriend to a ballet,” Ellen covered for him. He shot her a grateful glance.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Cool,”

The tension in the room was deafeningly tangible, as Ellen’s dance partners looked around awkwardly at each other. Alex felt his heart start to speed up. Was it that obvious that they had been together?

Did they think he was still into her?

Did _she_ think he was still into her?

“So where’s your girlfriend?” Dustin asked. “I mean, you’re here with her, I assume,”

Alex shuddered slightly at the thought of Holly being his girlfriend. “Oh, she isn’t my girlfriend. It was just a first date,”

“How’d that go?”

A shriek came from across the stage, unmistakable anger rising in it.

Alex gestured to where the noise had some from. “That pretty well sums it up,”

“Ouch,” Matheo - or was it Mark? - said sympathetically.

“How’s your family?” Ellen asked. “Does Skippy still live across the street? And what happened to Mal’s boyfriend?”

“We’re - we’re good,” Alex said. “Skippy’s the same old Skippy, and Nick’s still around,”

“He is? Well that’s great,”

“Tell that to my father,” Alex joked. “What about you? Have you spoken to your dad?”

Ellen bit her lip. “Yeah, we talk a bit. It’s going okay,” she smiled. “Thanks,”

There was another awkward pause, and Alex desperately cast his mind around for something to talk about, but he came up blank.

Thankfully, Ellen did not. “Hey, can you give me your parents’ number? I want to talk to Mal about something,”

Alex furrowed his brow. “Sure?” he said, opening his briefcase to get a pen and paper. “So what’s this for?” he asked as he wrote their number down. “New dress? Shopping crisis?”

“Actually, I have a job for her,” 

“You what?” Alex spluttered, looking at Ellen incredulously. Ellen laughed.

“Don’t look so shocked,” she said. “And it’s not _me_ that needs her, but a friend of mine is opening a boutique not far from them, and she needs an assistant, so I told her I’d look around. You don’t mind, do you?”

His ex-girlfriend - calling her that still hurt - and his sister, calling each other to talk about jobs, when he couldn’t even land a date? 

“How could I mind?” he said.

“Great,” she said.

The guard outside peeked in. “Your time is up,” he said. 

Alex felt himself panicking. This was his last chance to try and have a conversation with Ellen. It might be the last time he’d ever see her again. Was he going to end it like this?

“Bye guys,” he said casually. “Nice meeting you all,”

“Some more than others,” Dustin pointed out. Alex ignored him, turning back to Ellen.

“Well,” he said.

“Well,” she said. Then she hugged him. Alex hugged her back, barely daring to breathe.

“Goodbye, Alex,” she said.

Goodbye? He didn’t want it to be ‘goodbye.’ 

“Goodbye, Ellen,”

He allowed himself to be ushered out, unable to actually process what he was doing. The tear in his heart felt like she had broken it only yesterday, not two years ago.

_And a half_ , his brain mentioned.

The next few minutes were a messy, emotional-repression-filled blur. He put his hand in his pocket, looking for his keys as he reached the parking lot, only to find a small slip of paper that he didn’t have before.

_Call Me - E_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heya, i know its been forever and i feel so bad about it, but i was stuck and couldn't figure out where to go. figured it out tonight while procrastinating on my homework, but i got it done! if you like this, please leave a kudos/comment, it really means a lot to me :)


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